Did Thor: The Dark World Almost Include An Appearance By Valkyrie?

Hollywood blockbusters undergo a seemingly endless number of changes as they work their way through development on to the silver screen. Studios regularly provide notes to screenwriters through the pre-production phase and order major rewrites, and as a result some movies end up being completely unrecognizable from their original concepts. Sometimes major characters that appear in a first draft are completely absent by the time the final cut has been finished, and judging from concept art by artist Josh Nizzi, it would appear that happened to the comic book character Valkyrie in Alan Taylor's Thor: The Dark World.

With the Marvel Studios film having been released a couple months ago now, Nizzi took to his official website (via Yahoo! UK) and posted a series of concept art designs that he had been commissioned to draw when the Thor sequel was still in its earliest stages. The designs are pretty cool and show off many different kinds of aliens from around the Marvel Universe, but there were two images in particular that stood out:

For those unfamiliar with the character, Valkyrie was first introduced into Marvel Comics in 1970,, and like Thor she is also an Asgardian. Born Brunnhilde, she not only possesses the strength and durability of the God of Thunder, but is also the leader of the Valkyrior, the warrior goddesses who appear over battlefields and take worthy and faithful warriors to Valhalla. The Pegasus and wings seen in the design above would certainly help in this task, but what remains unclear is exactly how she would have fit into the film - which was pretty packed with story as it was.

While Valkyrie may not have shown up in Thor: The Dark World, it's still interesting to note her presence. This concept art is a clear indication that Marvel Studios believes there are some big screen possibilities for the character and simply haven't figured out exactly what to do yet. Perhaps she could wind up making her debut in Thor 3, whenever that ends up getting made.

In the meantime, for those of you who missed the Thor sequel in theaters or are desperate to see it again there is some good news. The film's Blu-ray and DVD is set to hit store shelves on February 25th, and the discs are packed with extra features that should keep Marvel fans digging for hours. Perhaps they will mention Valkyrie in the commentary and we'll be able to find out exactly what was being planned for the character. We'll have to wait and find out.